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The June 4th EU Elections

I’ve just got back from registering to vote for the upcoming EU elections on June 4th. As I hold joint Bermudian and UK citizenship, this gives me the right to vote not just in Bermuda, but also in Scottish Parliamentary elections, UK Parliamentary elections and the EU elections. I’ve only ever participated and voted in Bermuda, so I am looking forward to being able to vote now that I am currently resident in Scotland. I do remember the late Pauulu who argued that wherever you are you should participate in that community, and that advice is certainly something I’m keeping in mind with these upcoming elections.

The deadline for registering was today, so I just got in on time. I’m still trying to figure out where my polling station is, but I believe I will be sent that information in the mail shortly – all I know at the moment that I vote in Edinburgh South.

I’m curious to see how the results of this election will play out. There is a lot of anger and disillusionment in the UK towards politics right now, partly due to the lacklustre performance of UK Labour under Gordon Brown, partly due to the distrust stemming from the economic crisis, and a lot of anger resulting from the MPs expense leaks. Its hard to tell though whether this will translate into apathy or antipathy in this election. I certainly don’t think that Labour is going to do very well at all, but whether this means a low turnout or a high protest vote I really can’t tell.

I’ve been looking at the various Party’s that are contesting the election. Of them there are only three that I am seriously considering, the Scottish Socialist Party, the No2EU bloc and the Scottish Green Party. I’ve skimmed through their various literature and candidate biographies. I’ve pretty much made up my mind though, that I’ll be voting for the Scottish Socialist Party. I like the pro-environmentalism that the Scottish Green Party advocates, but I find the Scottish Socialist Party to both share these values as well as have a broader position of social and economic issues that I support. The No2EU is an interesting proposal, but I just don’t get a good feeling from reading their positions. To be honest I find some of their rhetoric uncomfortably close to some of the positions of UKIP or the BNP, even though they are very much opposed to these parties. More than that, if I’m going to vote for an MEP I do actually want them to take their position to the EU and articulate it rather than not go at all.

I’m still reading over the literature in more depth though before I make a final decision.